Bibbs no longer surprises CSU teammates

Running back, Rams close to bowl berth

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Weston Richburg would like to keep his feelings a secret, so Kapri Bibbs doesn't get a big head or anything.

But the fact remains that nothing the sophomore running back does surprises the Colorado State senior any more.

"No. I don't think so. He's dependable," Richburg said after the Rams beat New Mexico 66-42, moving to 6-5 on the season, 4-2 in Mountain West play. "We're really confident he's going to make a play. Some plays are 4 yards, and that's all you need to keep wearing them down. Some plays are 50 yards. He's able to do it all.

"Don't tell him I said that though."

But the back who started to draw attention to himself with 147 yards and three touchdowns against UTEP has simply exploded thepast two games. He averaging better than 300 yards a game and five touchdowns in that span, turning his season totals into record-setting numbers.

"You know, he's playing pretty good guys," CSU coach Jim McElwain said after Bibbs had 291 yards against the Lobos.

Last week after Bibbs rushed for a school-record 312 yards, McElwain said he was doing his job.

It's a job description the back himself is continually redrawing, with the bar raised each week. Bibbs leads the nation with 25 rushing touchdowns, which is a single-season record at Colorado State. It also accounts for exactly half of the Rams total touchdowns this season.

He has scored at least three touchdowns in five straight games, tying an FBS record shared with Paul Hewitt of San Diego State (1987), Barry Sanders (Oklahoma State, 1988) and Montee Ball (Wisconsin, 2011).

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He's helped make the Rams offense one of the most prolific in school history. Their 5,182 total yards are sixth best in history, while the per-game average of 471.1 is first. The 401 points scored is third, the 66 on Saturday tied for third and the 50 touchdowns tied for fourth.

Against New Mexico, he also established a single-game record with his six touchdowns and single-season records for points scored (150), and yards by a sophomore (1,439). That yardage total is second in the nation behind Andre Williams of Boston College (1,810 in 10 games), while his 130.8 yards per game ranks eighth.

He now has five straight games with at least three touchdowns scored, and against the Lobos, he did it on a night when his quarterback, Garrett Grayson, played the role of opening act with three first-half touchdown passes, finishing with 302 yards in the air.

It all led to a season-best 649 yards of total offense, but it is Bibbs who continues to steal the show.

Not that his teammates mind.

Bibbs had 38 rushes in the game, the most he's had all season, and the third time he's had at least 30, all coming in the past four weeks.

The week before, he had 29 carries.

"He should be getting the ball, because he's able to make big plays," Richburg said. "I don't know why you'd stop giving him the ball."

Bibbs' longest run of the night was 27 yards, a total he eclipsed three times in rushing for a school-record 312 yards last week. But he's explosive in short-yardage situations, too, something else his teammates appreciate.

McElwain said Bibbs' best run was picking up a fourth-and-1 after being hit in the backfield, and Grayson agreed. He thought the play was doomed soon after the handoff.

"At that point in the game, it was going back and forth between two offenses," Grayson said. "If we get stopped there, who knows, that may change the whole outcome of the game, they may go down and score. That changes everything. If he doesn't will to get that first down -- that's exactly what he did -- he willed himself to get that. I turned around and he immediately got hit and I was kind of like, 'dang,' but like I said, he willed himself to get that first down and that just kind of shows what he wants to do with the team. He tries to put us on his back and he does so."

With two games remaining, and the Rams needing one win to become bowl-eligible for the first time since 2008, Bibbs is 163 yards shy of the single-season rushing record held by Cecil Sapp (1,601). Amazing, considering he had just 40 carries the first four games of the season, good for 214 yards.

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